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Nonduality Highlights: Issue #3394, Saturday, December 27, 2008, Editor: Mark
Poetry that springs from a devout heart leads kindred hearts to
the ever-sweet One... No other divine faculty perhaps has a
greater power of transcendence over limits to the illimitable.
- Sri Chinmoy
WHAT IS GRACE
"What is grace?" I asked God.
And He said,
"All that happens."
Then He added, when I looked perplexed,
"Could not lovers
say that every moment in their Beloved's arms
was grace?
Existence is my arms,
though I well understand how one can turn
away from
me
until the heart has
wisdom."
- Saint John of the Cross, from Love Poems from God,
compiled by Daniel Ladinsky.
God alone is enough.
Let nothing upset you,
let nothing startle you.
All things pass;
God does not change.
Patience wins
all it seeks.
Whoever has God
lacks nothing:
God alone is enough.
- Saint Teresa of Avila
... as a flower blown out by the wind
goes to rest and cannot be defined
so the wise man freed from individuality
goes to rest and cannot be defined.
gone beyond all images -
gone beyond the power of words...
- from Sutra Nipata
In the desert of the midnight sand
in the desert of the midnight sand
I share a glass of Champagne
with a sea of cascading stars,
I am wearing prairie dust
and mountain snow
under a December moon,
full
of grace and self-determination
fresh with the scent of ripe
red strawberries
and green papaya,
I am absurdly rich with the fabric of the Universe
draping over my skin,
moist and hungry, but
we were eloquent
in our denial
we asked nothing of each other,
you and I,
I and you,
we never spoke of the steadfast heart,
still beating under all the
flesh we leave behind,
like pieces of bread,
trails to an oasis of dreams that pass
through
the rhythm and desire of an open mind,
shaking free
our souls to roam, blithe spirits
with cardinal wings, singing of the wind,
soaring again
our tongues dripping with perfume,
intoxicated wanderers, we shine
elegantly,
whispers
in the mirror of self-dception,
shattering in the empty glass
we break even now.
- Anna Ruiz
The Road To Cold Mountain
People ask for the road to Cold Mountain,
but no road reaches Cold Mountain.
Summer sky-still ice won't melt.
The sun comes out but gets obscured by mist.
Imitating me, where does that get you?
My mind isn't like yours.
When your mind is like mine
you can enter here.
- Hanshan
God, God, God!
From the depth of slumber,
As I ascend the spiral stairway of wakefulness,
I whisper
God, God, God!
Thou art the food and when I break my fast
Of nightly separation from Thee
I taste thee and mentally say
God, God, God!
No matter where I go, the spotlight of my mind
Ever keeps turning on Thee;
And in the battle dim of activity my silent war cry
Is ever;
God, God, God!
When boisterous storms of trials shriek
And worries howl at me,
I drown their noises, loudly chanting
God, God, God!
When my mind weaves dreams
With treads of memories,
Then on that magic cloth I do emboss;
God, God, God!
Ever night, in time of deepest sleep,
My peace dreams and calls; Joy! Joy! Joy!
And my Joy comes singing evermore;
God, God, God!
In waking, eating, working, dreaming, sleeping,
Serving, meditating, chanting, divinely loving,
My soul constantly hums, unheard by any;
God, God, God!
- Paraahansa Yogananda
Universal Prayer
O adorable Lord of mercy and love,
Salutations and prostrations unto Thee.
Thou art omnipotent, omnipresent, omniscient;
Thou are Satchidananda, Truth, Knowledge, and Bliss;
Thou art the Indweller of all beings.
Grant us an understanding heart,
Equal vision, balanced mind,
Faith, devotion, and wisdom.
Grant us inner spiritual strength
To resist temptations and to control the mind.
Free us from egoism, lust, greed, and hatred,
Fill our hearts with divine virtues.
Let us behold Thee in all these names and forms,
Let us serve Thee in all these names and forms,
Let us ever remember Thee,
Let us ever sing Thy glories,
Let Thy name be ever on our lips,
Let us abide in Thee for ever and ever.
- Swami Sivananda